Southwest Airlines Voted Best Frequent Flier Program in Recent Survey

Frequent flier miles can be a big reason a traveler chooses one airline or credit card over another, but a survey released Tuesday claims that Dallas-based Southwest Airlines had the best frequent flier program in 2014.

Not only did Southwest Airlines finish first, but the company also dominated the competition.

According to a poll from Airfarewatchdog.com (h/t the Chicago Tribune,) Southwest's Rapid Rewards program stood tall over nine other American carriers, earning a whopping 32 percent of the votes as the best frequent flier program by the 1,500 passengers surveyed.

As for the how the remaining airlines finished in the survey, Delta Air Lines finished second with 17 percent, American Airlines finished third with 14 percent and United Airlines and Alaska Airlines finished tied for fourth with 11 percent.

Rounding out the top 10 (in order) is JetBlue with eight percent, Hawaiian Airlines with four percent and a three-way tie for eighth between Allegiant, Frontier and Spirit with one percent.

One of the recent trends Airfarewatchdog.com found was the transition by most airlines to frequent-flier programs based on money spent and not miles actually flown. One of the exceptions to this rule is American Airlines, but that is a short-term concern as the company is currently merging frequent flier programs with US Airways.

As noted by Airfarewatchdog.com, though, changes to Southwest Airlines frequent flier policies could create a shakeup in next year’s survey.

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